Hunter Drabbles
by Shrrgnien
Summary: A series of drabbles and short one-shots centering around the Hunters of Artemis.
1. Reflection

_When will my reflection show/who I am inside?—"Reflection",__Mulan._

Reflection

Zoë stumbled and fell, a sharp breath hissing through her teeth as the rocky ground gouged deep furrows in her palm and knees. She didn't dare cry out for fear her father's minions would hear, but she couldn't stop tears of pain from springing into existence. Looking back over her right shoulder, she could just barely see the storm raging over Mt. Orthrys, far in the distance. She judged that she was far enough away to risk a short rest; at any rate, her feet were so cut and sore that she didn't know how much longer she could run.

A gentle trickle reached her ears, and she realized for the first time how thirsty she was. Limping painfully, she reached the small stream and leaned over it to take a drink.

Her reflection on the surface of the water was blurred so that her features were impossible to distinguish. Despair threatened to overwhelm her as she realized that she had, indeed, become a nameless, faceless being, a myth that would never be told. She was no longer a Hesperid, but neither would she ever be a regular mortal. Perhaps it was a mercy that she had lost her immortality. In Asphodel, all are equals, and she would never find a place where she belonged in life…

…A cool touch on her shoulder jarred her from her memories, as it had so many years ago. Glancing up, Zoë gave as close to a reassuring smile as she could manage. Artemis, of course, wasn't fooled for a minute. "The others are worried about you," she said gently. "The millennia marker of your joining us was meant to be a cause of _celebration,_ Zoë." Kneeling beside her lieutenant, Artemis took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze."Come when you can," she said quietly. And with that, she was gone.

Zoë looked back at the river, so different from the tumultuous mountain stream of so many years ago. The moon was out, shining brightly over her left shoulder—or, to put the same thing a different way, she appeared to be sitting just to the right of the moon.

She smiled, pushed herself to her feet, and hurried after her goddess.


	2. Elevator Music

Elevator Music

"I do _not!"_

Ari groaned, along with the other Hunters. She'd thought at first that having Melody around would be fun—think of the pranking opportunities!—but she had been very, very wrong. Cynthia had _told_them that letting a daughter of Eris join the Hunt had been a bad idea, hadn't she? But no, Artemis refused to "judge a maiden based solely on her parentage", and now they were stuck with her. In the longest elevator ride in the world.

"I do _not_have a crush on Apollo!" snapped Thalia. "I got over that, like, twenty years ago!"

"Sure you did. I totally believe you."

"_You little-"_

"Hate to interrupt, but I'd stop arguing before we get to the top if I were you," warned Cynthia. "That would be a bit…awkward."

Thalia sighed, glaring at Melody. "You're right, of course."

There was a long pause, the tense silence broken only by the tinny strains of "We are the Champions" coming from the speakers.

Melody spoke up. "So you _do_have a crush on Apollo?"

There was a loud _BANG._The lights exploded in a shower of electrical sparks, and with a monumental jolt that sent the Hunters flying, the elevator stopped dead.

"Way to go, Thalia. You shorted out the-"

"One more word. One more word, Melody, and I will _personally_rip out-"

"—your _foot,_Cynthia! You're crushing my toes!"

"Well, Di, maybe if you got your _elbow_ out my _eye_-"

"OW!"

"Get your butt out of my face!"

"Sorry, Alene, was that your head?"

"Get your _face_ out of my _butt_!"

Ari sighed. Taking out the penlight she'd stolen from the gift shop earlier, she picked the lock on the control panel, rearranged a few wires, and allowed herself a moment of smug satisfaction that she'd just hot-wired the portal to Olympus.

The sad thing was, it was only 9:00 in the morning. Ari popped a cherry gummy bear in her mouth.

This was going to be an interesting day.


	3. Regret

_"It's not total immortality, Percy. You know that. We can still be killed…" Thalia,__Demigod Files__._

Regret

It had been strange, at first.

Not only had Zoë been dead (of course, they both were, now) but when Thalia found her waiting at the border of Elysium with Bianca, the former lieutenant had been thrilled to see her. "Thrilled" was not an emotion Thalia was accustomed to seeing in Zoë, least of all when looking at her. But there was really no other way to describe it.

"I do not wish to be insensitive," Zoë had said, smiling apologetically as she pulled Thalia into a firm hug, "But it is truly a joy to see thee once more."

Thalia had understood. She wished she wasn't dead, obviously, but…"Yeah. Nice to see you too. How's li…how's death treating you?"

Zoë had responded by laughing—gods, Thalia hadn't even known she knew _how_to laugh—and beckoning her through the gates, skirting around the beautiful houses and into the woods. How trees _grew_down here Thalia had no idea, and Bianca's attempts to explain it to her only confused her more, but it didn't really matter; they were definitely here.

Death, as it turned out, was treating Zoë quite well. She missed her lady terribly, of course, but she shared the skies with her each night, and it helped ease the pain of separation. Thalia was actually amazed at how…_happy_ Zoë looked. All the pain that had been buried in her eyes in life was gone now; most importantly, she still had the Hunters. Bianca, as a child of Hades, kept close tabs on any Hunter who died, and had even managed an arrangement with Charon to ensure passage for them whether they had coins at their time of death or not. None of her sisters would ever be trapped in DOA Recording Studios for all eternity.

Every Hunter Thalia had known and thought she'd lost forever was here—Tara, Sharon, even wispy little Angela, who tackled her with a flying hug when she saw her and asked breathlessly after Ari. Most of the Hunters, however, were people Thalia had never met. She was a bit awkward with them at first, but they soon put her at ease; they were merely overjoyed to have Zoë back and curious to meet her replacement. But the most beautiful and heartbreaking reunion of all was with Tori and Kim. Inseparable to the end, the two had perished only moments apart in the final battle for Olympus. Tori, through Artemis' intervention with Hades, had chosen to remain in Elysium rather than being reborn as a different tree. And Kim, in death, had her sight back.

The post-mortem Hunters were a transitory group. There were usually at least five people in the clearing they used as "base camp", but they came and went on a whim; because, of course, there were other people here as well. Thalia had quite literally dragged Zoë into town one day to visit Percy and Annabeth and Mrs. Jackson, but, alive or dead, social interaction just wasn't Zoë's thing. She usually stayed in the forest. She was happier there.

Tonight—at least they assumed it was night because Zoë could feel her constellation—they were alone, facing each other. They had been playing chess, but after Zoë (who, it turned out, was _really_ good at chess) had beaten Thalia four times in a row, she had taken pity on her, and the two had lapsed into a companionable silence.

"Have you any regrets?" asked Zoë softly, tracing one of the intricate carvings on her bow.

Thalia thought about it. Smiling slightly, she answered, "Besides never beating Ari at poker? No."

"You never beat her either?" Zoë sounded profoundly relieved.

"I _know_ she cheats!" exclaimed Thalia. "I just can't figure out how!" Zoë nodded in agreement. After a short pause, the younger lieutenant asked, "You?"

Zoë shook her head.

This answer mystified Thalia. "Not even…I mean, that's great, obviously, but…you don't wish you hadn't jumped in front of Atlas?"

Now it was Zoë's turn to be mystified. "You ask if I regret dying for Artemis?"

"Well…yeah."

"Would you?"


	4. If the Hat Fits

_I knew I was in trouble when we stopped at the Goodwill drop box. Five minutes later, Zoë had me outfitted in a ragged flannel shirt and jeans three sizes too big, bright red sneakers, and a floppy rainbow hat.—Percy's Mind,__Titan's Curse__._

If the Hat Fits…

Thalia's laugh echoed up from the Goodwill drop box. Extricating herself from its depths, she held up the ugliest hat Zoë had seen in over three hundred years. "Seriously?" she said. "What kind of an idiot would wear something like that?"

"Indeed." Zoë took the piece of multicolored fabric (Lady Iris would never forgive her if she called it "rainbow", and it seemed an insult to hats to refer to this abomination as such) and was about to toss it back into the bin when she froze. Turning slowly around, she gave Percy, who was standing a short distance away talking to Grover, a calculating look. Her gaze flicked between hat and demigod several times, an evil grin spreading slowly across her face.

She looked up at Thalia. "Are you thinking what I am thinking?"


	5. Nightshade

Nightshade

Diana was in the woods. She couldn't stand it anymore; waiting in Cabin Eight, hoping…praying to any god they could think of…terrified that their prayers would be in vain. She was a daughter of Apollo, god of prophecy. She couldn't stand not _knowing_.

She almost hoped a monster would attack her. Preferably a dragon. She needed a proper, desperate battle for her life right now. But nothing did; whether because not even a dumb beast was stupid enough to mess with an angry Hunter or because her woodcraft was good enough that they didn't realize she was there, she didn't know or care. She just knew that it had been almost a week with no word from the quest group, and whatever had happened to Artemis it was bad, and she couldn't forget the look of sheer _terror_ on Zoe's face when she'd had that dream…

Finally, strung out emotionally and overcome by fear, she dropped down onto a snow-covered rock, shaking uncontrollably. Her brown eyes turned desperately to the moon. It seemed…different…tonight. Looking at it made her want to cry, and she looked away.

A flash of color caught her eye. Poking through the thick snow was something that shouldn't have been there: a vibrant purple flower with a yellow center. Not only did flowers have no place existing in the middle of winter, Diana was absolutely positive that it hadn't been there a second ago.

Frowning, Diana looked around for one of the Demeter kids, sure this was a really weird joke of some kind. Seeing nothing, she returned her puzzled gaze to the place where she had seen the nightshade bloom.

It was gone. The snow where it had been was smooth and unbroken, as if the beautiful flower that had poked through so boldly had never even existed…as if it were waiting for something to come along and make its mark there once more.

A shiver went down her spine. She looked back up at the mourning moon, then at the perfect, undisturbed snow. Suddenly she understood. Choking back a sob, she bolted back to the others.

When Artemis arrived later that night, the Hunters greeted Thalia tearfully but without surprise.

They already knew.

_A/N: Because so many people said they were confused by this, let me clarify a bit: Diana had a premonition about Zoe's death._


	6. Sacrifice

Sacrifice

Once the initial shock of Kim's blindness began to wear off, the Hunters had gotten the chance to roundly abuse Aphrodite, and Artemis herself had solemnly thanked the cruel goddess' brave daughter for her loyalty, the practical problem reared its ugly head. Perhaps the cruelest part of the punishment Aphrodite had inflicted upon Kim was that she had promised that she would get her sight back if ("and when", as she had put it) she left the Hunters. Artemis had taken Kim aside and told her that this was hardly a normal situation and she had no desire to be the girl's downfall.

"You have proven yourself a true Hunter, brave girl," she said gently, "But you owe us nothing now, and I would never ask this sacrifice of you. If you chose to leave, it will be with my blessing, and no betrayal nor weakness on your part. I want your happiness, first and foremost."

Kim refused the offer.

So now, while Cynthia and Zoë spoke to Artemis, glancing anxiously at Kim and murmuring in rapid Greek, Tori brushed a strand of blonde hair out of Kim's face and frowned. Leaning forward, she asked her quietly, "Why, Kim?" Shaking her head, she said "I just can't understand why you won't leave…why you chose to make yourself vulnerable to your mother's anger in the first place." When the daughter of Aphrodite made no answer, Tori dropped her voice further and said, "You know that if you haven't given Aphrodite the answer she wants by midnight tonight, you're blind forever."

"I know." Kim's voice was not harsh—she was never snappish with Tori—but it was very, very close. Given the circumstances, however, she could be easily forgiven.

After a short pause, Kim sighed. Giving a sad smile, she felt around for a few moments before placing her hand over Tori's. "You asked why I won't leave," she said simply.

It wasn't a question, but the gentle dryad answered anyway. "Yes."

Kim gave a quiet smile. "Because it's worth it," she said. "Even if I die for it...it was worth it, just to have called myself a Hunter for an hour."


	7. Ladon

_"It's me, my little dragon. Zoë has come back…I used to feed thee by hand. Do you still like lamb's meat?"—Zoë, _Titan's Curse

Ladon

He snarled at her, hissing menacingly as she approached the tree.

"Ladon," she said reproachfully. "You know me! It's only Zoë. There, now. Enough." His many mouths closed, but he continued glaring resentfully at the middle Hesperid.

Feigning offense, she said, "And to think I had brought thee thy favorite treat, as well! There's gratitude. I suppose I shall just have to get rid of it now…" Smirking, she reached into the leather pouch slung over her shoulder and withdrew a small chunk of heavily spiced meat. Ladon brightened, and all of his tongues flicked out, eagerly tasting the air. One head reached down and nudged her. He was actually quite gentle, but he was also enormous; the shove nearly knocked her off her feet.

"Oh, have it then!" she laughed. She tossed the first bit of lamb into the air. It disappeared down one of his throats, and the other heads pushed forward, whining like impatient dogs. Smiling, Zoë wove her way deftly among them, pausing to pat this head, feed that one, and drop a kiss onto the scaly top of another. Gradually her bag emptied, and she nestled herself between the dragon's monumental front legs. His heads yawned in unison, which would have been terrifying had Zoë not found it so adorable. He rested the tired heads back on the soft ground, serpentine necks parting willingly around the slim girl so as not to crush her. A few of his plentiful tongues tickled her feet affectionately before he dropped off to sleep.

Zoë sighed contentedly, closing her eyes.

Above the garden, the stars came out.


	8. Bonds of Blood

_"We see no sister. We see two half-bloods and a Hunter. All of whom shall soon die." –One of the Hesperides, TC._

Bonds of Blood

It had hurt.

It had hurt more than Zoë had ever imagined it could. And it _shouldn't_have. How many times had she sneered their names? How many times had she stated firmly that the Hunters were her true family? She had known for millennia that the Hesperides were no longer her sisters.

Except…they were. No amount of love for the Hunters, no comforting words from Artemis could change that fact. And now they stood in front of her, completely untroubled by the idea of her imminent death.

And it hurt.


	9. Thief

Thief

Ari wasn't nearly as bad as the Stoll brothers (she almost always returned what she took, from the Hunters at least) but you still learned very quickly to keep one hand on your wallet around her.

Phoebe had threatened her life a total of seventy-two times to date. Diana and Alene preferred a more diplomatic approach, which usually failed. Kim had tried to play the "who would steal from a blind girl?" card several times, and then jabbed the young thief with a hair straightener when appealing to her better nature didn't work. Tori had gotten into the habit of checking her pockets at ten-minute intervals. Cynthia's method was to simply hold out her hand and say "give it back, Ari," once a day. Becky had taken preemptive measures, and put a tracking charm on all of her possessions.

But Ari had been with the Hunters for ten years before Artemis noticed that she had never once stolen something from Zoë.


	10. Legacy

Legacy

Cynthia was getting seriously worried.

New York was a war zone. Kim and Tori were dead, overrun by monsters. They had lost Demi and Angela, and Becky, Sharon and Phoebe were all seriously injured. Diana was doing everything she could, but it was unlikely Sharon would survive.

And Thalia was currently missing in action. Cynthia was fairly certain she was alive; she had seen her not ten minutes ago, ordering Diana flat-out to get some sleep before she keeled over. But after looking for her lieutenant in the lobby, every girl's bathroom in the building, the medical ward, the buffet table, most of the bedrooms, and, in desperation, a few trash cans, she couldn't find her anywhere. She was about to give up and ask Percy Jackson if he'd seen her (she shuddered at the thought of asking a _boy_ for help, but desperate times…) when she heard a familiar voice from behind a door left slightly ajar. Very slowly, Cynthia pushed it open.

Thalia was leaning on a windowsill, twisting a curtain between her hands like a lifeline. She was staring up at the fading night sky, speaking in a low, painful voice, sounding almost apologetic, as if she were begging the stars for forgiveness...

Cynthia's heart broke when she realized who the current lieutenant was talking to.

"I did everything I could," Thalia murmured. "I...I swear I did. But there were too many…and Kim couldn't see…and then Tori threw herself in front of that _stupid_ dracaena, and…" she broke the sentence off painfully. "If you'd been here, they probably would be too. I should never have let her fight. I should have told her to get out sooner. You would have. I knew she wouldn't last in hand-to-hand combat…but I was an idiot, I thought we could take them." She was shaking now, shivering despite the warm summer air. "It's _you_ they need, Zoë," she said hopelessly, resting her forehead against the curtain and hiding her face. "Not me. They've never needed me."

Cynthia decided this had gone on long enough. _I guess undeserved guilt is part of the job description,_ she thought tiredly. Shaking her head, she pushed the door all the way open. "That's not true."

Thalia jumped, her hand flying instinctively to her knife before she realized who was addressing her. "Oh…hey, Cyn," she said thickly. "I was…I thought you were asleep."

Cynthia glanced up at the newest constellation, still barely visible in the brightening sky. Wrapping her arms around the younger girl—in years if not appearance—she whispered, "Zoë would be proud of you."


	11. Snowballs

Snowballs

It was times like these that made all the scrapes with death worthwhile. The sun was high and bright, but still behind them, not yet in their eyes. It had snowed last night—again—and the temperature was well below freezing. _Thank the gods for enchanted jackets,_ Thalia thought, more grateful than ever for her warm, silvery parka. It was nice to take a break from the tense, endless stalking once in a while. Such reprieves were few and far between, and having Artemis with them made it that much more special; with all the ancient monsters stirring, they hardly saw their goddess at all these days.

Up ahead, Ari froze. "Thalia," she hissed in a low, urgent voice, beckoning her lieutenant forward.

Hurrying to her side, Thalia ducked under a low branch and peered into the forest. "What's wrong?" She turned to Ari just in time to catch a glimpse of her trademark devilish grin before the young prankster tugged on the snow-laden branch, sending a deluge of the stuff tumbling down onto Thalia's head. "You…you little…get back here!" she spluttered.

Cackling demonically, Ari scampered out of arm's reach. Thalia rolled her eyes, shook the snow out of her hair, and retuned to her position at Artemis' side with as much dignity as possible. The goddess raised an eyebrow pointedly.

Thalia sighed. "Okay, okay, you were right. I never should have let Ari have coffee." She paused, then added somewhat testily, "Though you might have mentioned that _before_ she drank three double espressos."

"I have found experience to be the best teacher."

Ari materialized at Thalia's elbow. "I did not drink three double espressos!" she said indignantly. "I drank two double espressos and a cappuccino and part of Phoebe's latte when she wasn't looking. You know, Phoebe's latte wasn't very good. I mean, it wasn't _bad_. I've had, like, really bad coffee, so compared to that it was good, but then so is like, mud." Without so much as pausing for breath, she continued, "You know, your hair really has grown out, Thalia. I think it looks nice, but if you don't think it looks nice you should ask Kim to cut it, which may sound stupid because she's, ya know, blind, but she still manages to make people look really good because Aphrodite's the goddess of beauty. I mean she's never, like, killed anybody, which is always a concern with sharp objects near throats and spinal cords and all, but there's always a first time, so I can see why you might just want to grow your hair out instead."

There was a short pause.

"Anything else?" Thalia asked.

At that precise moment, Thalia stepped on a small twig. This wouldn't have been worthy of notice if the twig hadn't been the trigger for one of Angela Wilkins' many types of traps. The daughter of Hephaestus was quite new, but very talented. She could make a snare out of anything; with the right materials she could build intricate traps that Thalia doubted even Annabeth could understand. This particular trap served only to launch a large amount of snow straight at Thalia's head, and it performed its duty with gusto.

"Nope," said Ari. She gave an impish wink before scurrying over to Angela and slapping her an enthusiastic high-five.

"Why me? Thalia moaned, brushing snow off her shoulders. She had been aiming for a joking tone, but the bitterness in her voice was impossible to disguise.

"It's nothing personal, Thalia," Artemis said quietly. "On the contrary, Ari is very fond of you. You're just the only one not yet familiar with her tricks."

Nodding acceptingly, Thalia watched Ari and Angela. They were laughing, picking their way arm-in-arm through the thick snow. The lieutenant's electric-blue eyes turned calculating, and she scraped up a handful of snow, packing it into a ball.

"Thalia." The rebuke was gentle, but it was still there.

Thalia sighed and tossed the snowball harmlessly to the side. "Sorry. Kim! Careful!" she called suddenly.

"It's okay, Thalia, Tori's got me," Kim called back. The Hunters were carefully crossing a frozen creek, using slippery rocks as footholds rather than trust their weight to the ice.

"After you," Artemis said, indicating the creek. There was a strange look in her eyes, but Thalia moved ahead all the same. She was just about to start the crossing when a decent-sized snowball hit the back of her head. She spun around, expecting to see Ari, but the only one there was Artemis, looking innocently puzzled as to what Thalia's problem might be.

Shaking her head incredulously, Thalia decided that maybe scrapes with death weren't all that bad.


	12. This Means War

**This Means War**

_I hate vacations._

Zoë Nightshade was not an unreasonable person.

This, of course, went rather contrary to popular belief, but it was no less true because of it. Imperfect, to be certain; prejudiced, to that she would admit. But never unreasonable. She asked very little of the world; a bow she could trust, weather that was only intentionally malicious when it had good reason, something to track and the freedom to do so. Also difficult to convince others of was the idea that she was, in fact, of an inherently generous nature. It was not in Titan blood to forgive easily, but while she was disposed to carry a grudge she was slow to pick one up in the first place; it raised blood pressure and was generally detrimental to one's mental health. There were very few things that would prompt her to such a thing.

Threatening her Hunters was one of them.

"Zoë!" Cynthia called from a neighboring tree. "They're using the pegasi—Hermes cabin is tracking us from the air!"

Zoë swore darkly under her breath. "Where are the others?"

At that moment, a dark figure melted out of the trees to her left. Not even the lieutenant of Artemis could blend into the forest like a dryad.

"Diana's squad was pinned down by a dragon down the river, but—"

"They have _dragons_ in these woods!" Diana exclaimed right on cue, leaping out of the undergrowth and climbing up Cynthia's tree. "We haven't had a chance to hunt dragons in _years_, the lucky swine!"

"They have Myrmekes, too," Tori informed the group as a whole. "A full colony. The dryads don't go there. If we could push the half-bloods in that direction—"

"RUN!"

The rest of the Hunters stampeded past them. The new recruit—Kim, if she recalled correctly—skidded to a halt when she saw Zoë. "Get out of here!" she called frantically. "Charlie's right on our tail!"

"Who?"

A shout from the forest answered her question.

"_There they are!"  
_  
_"Get 'em!"  
_  
Charlie Hale, son of Dionysus, came charging towards them with the entire Ares cabin on his heels, brandishing assorted weapons and bellowing madly. Zoë swore again before joining Cynthia in a rain of every kind of specialty arrow their quivers would provide. She questioned the practicality of having arrows that played _Yellow Submarine_ when fired, but as long as Apollo was also willing to include explosive, net-firing, and sulfur arrows in the monthly package, she was willing to tolerate them.

_I _hate_ vacations!_

This was supposed to have been a simple, week-long assignment, a way for the Hunters to keep themselves out of trouble while Artemis was on Olympus for the summer solstice. A recruiting opportunity, she'd told Zoë in an attempt to get her to agree. The Hunters' numbers were sorely depleted and it had been far too long since they had combed Camp Half-Blood for potential recruits.

In the end, of course, what had convinced Zoë was not the opportunity to swell the ranks, but rather the fact that her goddess was practically radiating her desire to celebrate the solstice properly; she hadn't taken her rightful place in the celebrations for decades.

This was, by the River Styx, meant to be a _vacation._

_Why_ must all their vacations end in guerilla warfare?

It wouldn't have been a problem, she thought bitterly, if _Lord_ Dionysus had been able to keep his hands to himself. Lady Artemis had made the point very clear, many years ago, that her protection of her Hunters would be absolute, even were they threatened by Zeus himself, and Tori as well had made her opinion of the god's advances clear.

This was, clearly, not the Hunters' fault.

Dionysus' attempt on one of their own was as clear a challenge as any, and, as the ancient laws stated, they now had every right to respond at full strength. The first wave of retaliation, she reflected with dark pleasure, had gone perfectly; Dionysus had been forced to retreat to the Big House by the sheer fury of his attackers, and then to escape to Olympus or watch the walls torn to pieces around him.

In retrospect, it might have been better to let the Hunters land a blow or two on his physical person. Robbed of satisfaction for their fury, the enraged Hunters had effectively begun a full-scale riot. Someone—Phoebe, most likely, or else Ari, transformed from charming imp to red-haired demon with fear and anger at how nearly she had lost her sister—had thrown a Molotov cocktail through the window of Cabin Twelve, and from there…

Well.

It had escalated, somewhat.

The children of Aphrodite, woken from their beauty sleep, had rushed outside in curlers and face masks—succeeding in frightening Zoë for the first time in their existence—and immediately determined that the Hunters were to blame.

Diana's perfect, arcing shot through their open window had been intended as a _warning_. How were _they_ to know that over the years, so much hairspray, perfume and air freshener had built up that a single flaming arrow would be enough to transform the whole cabin into a fireball impressive enough to rate an 8.2 on the Ari Scale?

The Apollo Cabin, at first, had been on their side. At least, Zoë _assumed_ they had been trying to help when they ran over with swords and bows and started shouting; but by that time the rest of Camp had been woken, and when the Aphrodite children saw the Apollo clan descending on them they assumed they were under attack and responded accordingly. Then the Ares cabin had stepped in to save them, and in an attempt to rescue their newfound allies (she would claim) from certain doom, Diana had fired into the Cabin Five minefield and set that one on fire, too, and then things had become, as Phoebe called it, a shitstorm.

Zoë spared a moment, while running for her life, to wish the Apollo cabin luck. The last anyone had heard of them they were being systematically hunted down by the offspring of Athena. Nobody, as far as she could tell, had any idea how it had happened.

"Ari!" she called, ducking below the lip of a dry stream bed as an arrow whistled above her head. "If you have any explosives I do not know of..."

A thundering _BOOM_ shook the earth.

"Not anymore!"

"Zoë," said Cynthia as she slid into the makeshift trench. "I don't mean to alarm you, but Ari just said she's out of pipe bombs."

"Yes, I heard."

"Do I _want_ to know what's happening, Zoë?"

"Hello, Lady Artemis," she said calmly, taking the sudden appearance of her goddess in stride. "No, I highly doubt it. There's a young girl with us who would like to talk to you, however. Did you enjoy the solstice?"

"Yes, it was lovely. Are you aware that the camp is in flames?"


End file.
